Out of Sight, out of Mind
OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND The Politics and Culture of Waste Edited by Christof Mauch Transformations in Environment and Society 2016 / 1 Out of Sight, Out of Mind The Politics and Culture of Waste Edited by CHRISTOF MAUCH RCC Perspectives Transformations in Environment and Society 2016 / 1 Out of Sight, Out of Mind 3 Contents 5 Introduction Christof Mauch Someone Else’s Problem? 13 The “Flying Dutchmen”: Ships’ Tales of Toxic Waste in a Globalized World Simone M. Müller 21 The “Urban Mine” in Accra, Ghana Richard Grant 31 When Waste Disappears, or More Waste Please! Catherine Alexander 41 The Last Sink: The Human Body as the Ultimate Radioactive Storage Site Kate Brown Sighting and Siting 51 Plastic, Oil Culture, and the Ethics of Waste Amanda Boetzkes 59 Fresh Kills: The Making and Unmaking of a Wastescape Martin V. Melosi 67 Forget About It: Purposeful Ignorance (of Waste) in a City Nature Preserve Sarah Hill Out of Sight, Out of Mind 5 Christof Mauch Introduction When we consider how much trash is being produced each and every day, one wonders why trash is almost invisible in our everyday environment. According to a study by the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, Europeans use approximately 50 tons of resources each year for food, goods, and services; the United States uses considerably more. Emerging economies, on the other hand, use only about half that much. The use of raw materials is in direct correlation with trash, since everything we consume will end up as trash. Some of our consumer items—fast food containers, for example—have a life span of only a few minutes; others, like furniture, may be around for a couple of decades.
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